Evaluation of Peanut Genotypes for Disease Resistance, Yield Potential, and Farmer Acceptance in Guyana, South America.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important food and oil crop in many developing and developed countries.  Peanut is an important source of oil and protein in the diet of many people in developing countries.  One of the primary production constraints in peanut for small farmers in developing countries is disease control.  Many farmers lack the access, both financially and logistically, to fungicides to adequately control diseases in peanut production, including leafspots (early and late) caused by by Cercospora arachidicola Hori and Cercosporidium personatum  (Berk. & Curt.) Deighton, respectively.  Peanut breeding is an important tool to introduce disease resistant varieties to small farmers to help address this major production constraint.  Peanut production in the interior of Guyana, South America relies on rainfall and limited availability of inputs.  Peanut farmers also rely heavily (almost completely) on one variety of peanut, exposing their systems to losses from disease and other environmental stresses.  An experiment was conducted through a Peanut CRSP (USAID) funded project in the rural interior of Guyana, South America.  The objectives of this research were to 1) evaluate the yield potential of the introduced genotypes, 2) evaluate the resistance of the genotypes to leaf spot, and 3) determine the potential for adoption by small holder farmers. Field experiments were established to evaluate nine genotypes of peanut for disease resistance to leaf spot and also for yield potential.  Genotypes were evaluated under two treatments, a limited fungicide regime and a no fungicide treatment.  This experiment was conducted in 2011 and 2012 in Guyana and repeated in Florida at two locations in 2013.  Farmer participatory methods were used in Guyana to determine the potential for adoption of new varieties of peanut.  Results indicate that several peanut genotypes evaluated were similar in yield to the local variety and also demonstrated disease resistance to leaf spot.  Several introduced varieties were also positively accepted by local farmers as alternatives to the local check due to the differences in plant morphology and the potential for an increased market price for new varieties.